Mieroszewski Round Table 2025
When Reading Becomes Strategy. The Mieroszewski Round Table is a format that continues to mature with each edition. From the very beginning, it has been based on the idea that the best political conversations start with reading - analytical and historical publications serve as a springboard for behind-closed-doors debates on Central and Eastern Europe.
In previous years, the Mieroszewski Round Table has hosted discussions featuring the likes of Serhii Plokhy, Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski, Agathe Demarais, Ian Garner, and Piotr Majewski. Their books sparked conversations on energy policy, imperial legacies, national identities, and propaganda and helped steer those conversations in specific and meaningful directions. In 2024, the debate opened with Una Bergmane’s publication on the restoration of independence in the Baltic states after the collapse of the USSR – a book that will soon be available in Polish, published by our Centre!
This year’s edition in Augustów continued that tradition: a meeting where books did not simply organise how we think about the world, but also helped to clarify different perspectives and areas of common ground. The discussions touched on the balance of power between Russia and China, the German view of the East, and the economic dimensions of war today. Although each panel began with a book, the conversation quickly moved into a deeper analysis of the processes that will shape regional politics in the years ahead.
Russia and China: asymmetry without illusions
The opening session focused on Russia and China, prompted by Michał Lubina’s book The Bear in the Dragon’s Embrace: How Russia Became China’s Younger Brother (Szczeliny, 2022). The book offers a sober view of what is often referred to as a “partnership without limits” – a phrase better understood as rhetorical excess than political reality.
Today, the Moscow–Beijing relationship is one of convenience: asymmetrical, cool-headed, yet stable. For China, it ensures peace on its northern border and broader strategic benefits. For Russia, it reflects a lack of viable alternatives. Both sides understand that time favours one of them – and it isn’t Moscow.
In an interview following the panel, Michał Lubina emphasised that
Russia has indeed accepted the role of China’s junior partner. For the Kremlin, it is a reluctant but necessary compromise; for Beijing, a return to what it considers the natural order. This partnership, grounded in shared opposition to the West, is durable and difficult to break. From a Polish perspective, Lubina argues, this is one of the most serious challenges in relations with China.
Germany between the past and comfortable forgetting
The second panel examined Germany – and more precisely, how the legacy of the former East Germany (GDR) still influences Berlin’s stance on Russia. The discussion took as its starting point Katja Hoyer’s book Beyond the Wall (Penguin Books, 2024).
The conclusion? A past that went largely unspoken for decades is returning to public debate – and not just in the East. Experts noted that blaming the failures of Ostpolitik on lingering East German sentiment is convenient, but ultimately misleading. The problem with Russia has always been systemic – and former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is just a convenient symbol.
“Germany’s relationship with Russia has always been intense – and it didn’t start yesterday,” Hoyer commented after the panel.
“This isn’t about modern politics, but a long-standing fascination with Russia’s ‘greatness’. That romanticism won’t disappear quickly, no matter how tense the current situation. It’s a complicated bond – not always welcome, but still very much present.”
Sanctions, oil, and geopolitics by the numbers
The third part of the debate shifted to the economic front. Maximilian Hess’s book Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West (Hurst, 2023) opened the conversation about why the West is still not making full use of its greatest advantage – its economy.
Russia started this war. Sanctions, frozen assets, and limits on oil exports can be powerful tools – but only if there is political courage and honesty with the public.
In a post-event interview with the Mieroszewski Centre, Hess argued that the West still holds a range of untapped instruments that could seriously undermine the Russian economy. These include expanded secondary sanctions and tighter restrictions on hydrocarbon exports.
“If we really want to halt Putin’s aggression – not just in Ukraine but across the region – we need a serious discussion not only about the price Russia gets for its oil, but about the volume it is allowed to sell,” said Hess. “Policymakers in Europe and the US must be honest with their citizens: effective pressure on Russia will be costly – but it’s necessary.”
What’s left unsaid, but clearly heard
Every edition of the Mieroszewski Round Table includes a book by a Polish author – and that is no coincidence. It is a clear signal that Polish perspectives matter and are being heard. This year, it was Michał Lubina’s book that opened the debate and set the tone – focusing on relationships where power is unevenly distributed, yet dependency does not always mean weakness.
The event gathered experts from across the region – from Poland to the United Kingdom, from Ukraine to the Nordic and Baltic states. Their names remain confidential under the Chatham House Rule, but one thing is clear: these were not polite commentaries, but serious conversations about the forces shaping the region’s future. Books were the starting point – but what truly resonated were the questions that still don’t have answers.
